Surgical needles



Oct. 1, 1957 R. W. THAYER SURGICAL NEEDLES Filed July 19 ,1955

IN VEN TOR.

F035 M4 7i/A YER Train/Er Patented Oct. 1, 1957 SURGICAL NEEDLES Robert W. Thayer, Greensboro, N. C.

Application July 19, 1955, Serial No. 527,660

Claims. (Cl. 128339) The present invention relates to needles and more particularly to needles suitable for employment in surgical stitching instruments such as that shown and described in my co-pending application entitled Surgical Stitching Instruments, Serial Number 363,971, filed June 25, 1953.

A needle constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention will be of the type having characteristics making it especially suitable to adequately meet the stringent requirements of surgery. Although it is not intended to so limit this invention, the invention will be described in combination with a surgical stitching instrument such as shown and described in my co-pending application referred to above. Needles made in accordance with the teachings of this invention will also be found useful for employment in sewing machines, tailors tack needles, and sewing awls.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a needle having features making it particularly adaptable for use with a handle.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a needle whose eye is so arranged and shaped as to prevent accidental unthreading of the needle.

According to this invention a needle is provided whose shank is tapered to correspond with an inside taper on a collar adapted to fasten the needle to a handle. The collar contains a groove which is adapted to receive the threadlike member. Further, in accordance with this invention, the eye of the needle is characterized in that the opening of the eye on one side of the body of the needle is a diiferent distance from the point than the opening of the eye on the other side of the body of the needle.

Other and incidental objects of the invention will become apparent after a reading of the following specification and on an inspection of the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure 1 illustrates one form of the surgical instrument to which this invention of a needle is particularly adapted to be employed.

Figure 2 illustrates in detail the shank of the needle, the sleeve, the collar, and the extension of the handle of a surgical instrument constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention.

Figure 3 illustrates in detail the sleeve of the needle made in accordance with the teachings of this invention.

Figure 4 illustrates one form which this invention may take.

Figure 5 illustrates one form of needle which is constructed in accordance with the teachings of this invention.

Figure 6 is a cross section of the form of the needle shown in Figure 5.

Figure 7 shows still another form of needle made in accordance with the teachings of this invention.

In the several figures of the drawing a same element is designated by the same numeral.

Turning now in detail to the drawing and particularly to Figure 1 of the drawing, there is shown a surgical stitching instrument to which needles constructed in accordance with the present invention are well adapted. Details of an improved surgical stitching instrument may be found in my co-pending application entitled Surgical Stitching Instruments, Serial Number 363,971, filed June 25, 1953. The surgical stitching instrument consists of a needle 11 supported in a sleeve 13. The sleeve 13 is held firmly in the end of extension 15 of handle 17 by collar 19.

Handle 17 holds a bobbin containing a supply of suture material 21 which is fed through slot 23 from a bobbin in the handle 17 down through the slot 25, under the collar 19, through the groove 27 in the sleeve 13 and then through the eye 29 of the needle 11.

Details concerning a preferred form of bobbin for hold ing suture material or any other thread-like member are shown and described in my co-pending application entitled Bobbins, Serial Number 523,009, filed July 19, 1955. 1

Figure 2 shows in cross section the handle extension 15, the collar 19, and the sleeve 13.

Needle 11 has a tapered shank 31 which fits snugly into a corresponding tapered hole in sleeve 13.

Sleeve 13 which is shown in both Figures 2 and 3 contains a shoulder 33 the diameter of which is greater than the diameter of the remainder of the 'body of the sleeve 13. The upper side of the shoulder butts against the handle extension 15 at point 35. Collar 19 screws on to handle extension 15 at thread 37. Collar 19 engages the lower end of shoulder 33 at point 39 and presses the sleeve 13 firmly against the handle extension 15 at point 35.

Slot extends to the lower end of the handle extension 15. A nipple 41 which straddles the groove 27 of the sleeve 13 is arranged to engage the slot 25 of the handle extension 15 to prevent the sleeve 13 from rotating in the handle extension 15.

Since the nipple 41 extends on both sides of the groove 27 in the sleeve 13, the groove 27 will line up with the slot 25 in the handle extension 15. The alinement of the slot 25 and the groove 27 will permit threading the suture material 21 through under the collar 19 thus providing a convenient guide for the suture material 21 between the bobbin in the handle 17 and the eye of the needle 11.

Figure 4 shows a sleeve having a shoulder 33 and an extension 43 which is adapted to engage the end of the handle extension 15 when collar 19 is screwed over the sleeve 13 onto the end of the handle extension 15.

In Figure 4 there is shown a hollow needle 45 which employs the teachings of this invention in one of its forms in that the opening 47 of the eye on one side of the needle 45 is at a different distance from the point of the needle 45 than the opening of the eye 49 on the opposite side of the needle 45. It will be seen that an employment of the needle of the type shown is Figure 4 provides information as to which direction the needle is threaded. Heretofore it was sometimes difl'icult to determine during use on which side of the needle the end of the threadlike member is located. In Figure 4 the needle 45 is hollow but employs a solid point 51.

Figures 5 and 6 show in more detail the needle illustrated in Figure 4. Needle 45 consists of a hollow shaft or body with a tapered shank 31. The hollow section extends down to a point at which there is an opening through the side of the needle at 49. There is also an opening 47 through the hollow portion of the needle 45 through which the suture material or other thread-like member may be threaded such that it will go into the needle at point 47 and out of the needle at point 49.

Figure 7 shows still another form of this invention wherein needle 53 is solid and has an eye 55 which is particularly characterized in that the eye is arranged diagonally through the needle 53. It will be seen that the right side of the eye 55 is a different distance from the point 51 than the left side of the eye 55. The use of the diagonal type of eye also permits the user to know on which side of the needle the end of the thread will be found.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A stitching instrument comprising a shaft, a point at one end of said. shaft, a shank on the end of said shaft opposite to said point, said shank having a taper reducing the diameter of said shank at its end, an eye in said shaft near said point, a sleeve for said shank to adapt said shank to be fastened to a handle by a collar, said sleeve having an internal taper corresponding to the taper on said shank, a groove in said sleeve adapted to hold a thread-like member, and a nipple on said sleeve adapted to engage a groove in said handle to prevent rotation of said sleeve when fastened to said handle.

2. A surgical stitching instrument the combination of ashaft, a point at one end of said shaft, a shank on the end of said shaft opposite to said point, said shank having a taper reducing the diameter of said shank at its end, an eye in said shaft near said point, a sleeve for said shank, said sleeve having an internal taper adapted to fit snugly on the taper of said shank, said sleeve having an external longitudinal groove, a nipple on said sleeve, a handle having a hollow end section intowhich said sleeve is adapted to slide, an external screw thread on the hollow end section of said handle, a slot in said hollow end section for the nipple on said sleeve to prevent said sleeve from turning with respect to said handle, and a collar having an internal thread corresponding to the thread on the hollow end section of said handle to fasten said sleeve tosaid handle.

3. The invention as set forth in claim 2 and wherein said handle contains a bobbin for a thread-like member and wherein the slot in said hollow end section and the external longitudinal groove in said sleeve is adapted to receive said thread-like member.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 3 and wherein the groove in said sleeve runs through the nipple.

5. A surgical stitching instrument comprising in combination a needle having a shaft, a point on one end of said shaft, a tapered shank on the other end of the shaft, an eye in said shaft near the end of said shaft having said point, a sleeve having an internal taper corresponding to the taper on said shank, a handle, a bobbin for threadlike material positioned in said handle, a hollow section on one end of said handle, the internal diameter of the hollow section of said handle being substantially equal to the outside diameter of said sleeve, a longitudinal slot in said hollow section, a groove running longitudinally on the outer surface of said sleeve, a nipple on said sleeve to engage the slot in the hollow section of said handle to prevent said sleeve from turning with respect to said handle, a shoulder on said sleeve, the outside of the hollow section of said handle having a thread thereon, and a collar having internal threads corresponding to the threads on the outside of the hollow section of said handle, said collar engaging the shoulder of said sleeve to fasten said sleeve to-said handle, the groove in said sleeve and the slot in the hollow section of said handle positioned together whereby the thread-like member may move freely under said collar from said bobbin to the eye in said needle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 751,334 OShaughnessy Feb. 2, 1904 919,138 Drake et al Apr. 20, 1909 FOREIGN PATENTS 295,962 Germany Dec. 30, 1916 528,550 Great Britain Oct. 31, 1940 

